1 Thessalonians 5:4-The Thessalonians Were Not Ignorant of the Day of the Lord Because They Did Not Belong to the Darkness

1 Thessalonians 5:1 Now on the topic of times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. 5:2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night. 5:3 Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape. 5:4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would. (NET)

As we have been noting in our study of 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-11 addresses the subject of the day of the Lord.

This passage makes clear that Paul wanted to reassure the Thessalonians that they would not experience the prophetic events related to the day of the Lord.

In particular, they would not experience the events predicted to take place during the seventieth week of Daniel and the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

Specifically, they would not experience the Lord’s wrath or righteous indignation which He will exercise against every unrepentant, unregenerate human being on the earth during the seventieth week of Daniel and Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

Paul asserts that they were delivered from God’s wrath.

The implication of this pericope is that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community must live a godly life in contrast to unregenerate humanity in light of the fact that they are delivered from the Lord’s wrath which He will exercise against each unrepentant unregenerate human being on the earth during the seventieth week of Daniel and His Second Advent.

The purpose of 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 is to reassure the Thessalonians that the eschatological day of the Lord does not pose a threat to them in any way whatsoever.

It is also to designed to encourage and warn them how they must continue to live their lives in light of the disaster which is about to come upon the non-Christian community.

1 Thessalonians 5:4 contains three statements.

The first is a declarative statement which asserts that each and every member of the Thessalonian Christian community absolutely does not belong to those who live in the darkness.

The second is a result clause which presents the result of the first statement.

It speaks of the prophetic events connected to the eschatological day of the Lord taking the Thessalonians by surprise.

The third is a comparative clause which means it is presenting a comparison with the second.

So again, the first asserts that each and every member of the Thessalonian Christian community absolutely does not belong to those who live in the darkness, and which darkness contains two ideas.

The first pertains to being ignorant of the prophetic events which will take place during the seventieth week of Daniel and Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

The second pertains to being spiritually in the dark as a result of being enslaved to Satan and his cosmic system who deceive the unregenerate into rejecting Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Consequently, this rejection keeps the unregenerate from being delivered from the Lord’s righteous indignation which He will exercise against every unrepentant, unregenerate human being during the seventieth week of Daniel and His Second Advent.

Therefore, the first idea is the direct result of the second.

In other words, the reason why the unregenerate are ignorant of the prophetic events which will take place against them during the seventieth week and Second Advent of Christ is that they are spiritually living in the darkness because they are deceived by Satan and his kingdom into rejecting Jesus Christ as their Savior and King.

Therefore, those who live in spiritual darkness because they belong to Satan’s kingdom and are thus ignorant of the prophetic events connected to the day of the Lord are unregenerate and thus children of the devil.

Thus, they are ignorant of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ will exercise His righteous indignation against every unrepentant, unregenerate person during the seventieth week of Daniel and His subsequent Second Advent.

On the other hand, those who don’t belong to this spiritual darkness because they don’t belong to Satan’s kingdom and are thus not ignorant of the prophetic events connected to the day of the Lord are regenerate and thus children of God.

Thus, they are not ignorant of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ will exercise His righteous indignation against every unrepentant, unregenerate person during the seventieth week of Daniel and His subsequent Second Advent.

The moment the sinner is declared justified by the Father through faith in His one and only Son Jesus Christ, they are simultaneously transferred from Satan’s kingdom to Jesus Christ’s kingdom because they are now under the headship of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul taught this to the Colossian Christian community.

Colossians 1:13 who delivered each one of us from the dark power. Also, He transferred each and every one of us to His Son’s kingdom who He loves. (My translation)

In Colossians 1:13, the apostle Paul communicates to these faithful believers in Colossae another act which the Father performed for their benefit at the moment of their conversion.

He reminds them that the Father delivered them from Satan’s power.

This took place at the moment of their conversion when they exercised faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

He also reminds them that simultaneous with this act, the Father transferred them to His Son’s kingdom who He loves.

Thus, here in Colossians 1:13, Paul is identifying the Father’s kingdom which he mentions at the end of Colossians 1:12 with Jesus Christ’s kingdom.

They are thus one in the same.

In Colossians 1:12, Paul states that the saints’ inheritance resides in that which is characterized by light, which is figurative language for the Father’s kingdom.

Now, here in Colossians 1:13, the apostle is asserting that the Father transferred the Colossians to His Son’s kingdom.

When Paul teaches that the Father delivered them from the dark power or in other words Satan’s power or kingdom, he is speaking of salvation.

Now, “the day” (hemera) in the first statement in 1 Thessalonians 5:4 refers to the eschatological day of the Lord, which includes the prophetic events connected to the seventieth week of Daniel and subsequent Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

This first statement in 1 Thessalonians 5:4 stands in contrast with the assertions in 1 Thessalonians 5:3.

Therefore, the contrast is between the unregenerate living in ignorance of the day of the Lord because they are deceived by Satan and the Thessalonian Christian community which is by no means living in ignorance of the day of the Lord because they are by no means deceived by Satan’s kingdom.

This first assertion in 1 Thessalonians 5:4 is an emphatic, emotional and personal address from Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to each member of the Thessalonian Christian community.

This is indicated by the fact that the noun adelphos, “brothers and sisters” is functioning as a nominative for vocative or nominative of address, which is a vocative of emphatic emotional personal address.

The reason for this emphatic, emotional and personal address from these three men was to reassure the Thessalonians that they would not experience the prophetic events connected to the day of the Lord so that they experience the Lord’s righteous indignation during the seventieth week of Daniel and His Second Advent.

As we also noted, the second statement in 1 Thessalonians 5:4 is a result clause which presents the result of the first statement.

It speaks of the prophetic events connected to the eschatological day of the Lord taking the Thessalonians by surprise.

Therefore, this would indicate that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community absolutely does not belong to those who live in the darkness “with the result that” the prophetic events of the day of the Lord overtake them like a thief takes someone by surprise as a result of breaking into their home in the middle of the night.

Lastly, the third statement in 1 Thessalonians 5:4 is a comparative clause which means it is presenting a comparison with the second.

Therefore, the comparison is between someone who is taken by surprise by a thief and the Thessalonians being taken by surprise by the events of the day of the Lord.