Some interpret 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 as if it is referring to the rapture. They would not be wrong, because the rapture is integrated as closely as possible to God’s wrath, all while keeping the followers of Christ protected from the time of wrath.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 NASB (1) "Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. (2) For you, yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. (3) While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. (4) But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; (5) for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; (6) so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. (7) For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. (8) But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. (9) For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, (10) who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. (11) Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."
Points and context to consider.
“Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.”
The word times is the Greek word chronos and can be long or short. Epochs, or as other translations have put it, seasons, is the Greek word kairos. There is a similarity between this word and times, but the word kairos applies to a measure of time or a period when things are brought to a crisis.
Paul would not have been so presumptuous as to say “you have no need of anything to be written to you” unless he had already spoken to them clearly, distinctly, and with no misunderstanding about what those words meant. Paul's words were adequate and well defined as he spelled out the hope that we have of Jesus coming back in the clouds to collect us, His bride, the church. An event that has little to do with the seven years of God's wrath; an event that is to be unleashed upon the earth only moments after the rapture.
“for you, yourselves know perfectly the day ...”
The question for us today is, what day is Paul talking about?
This can either be the day of our gathering back to Jesus as the bride, or it is the day in which God pours out His wrath upon the earth.
Day seems like such a simple word. “day” is the Greek word hēmera.
For the church, it means “the last day of this present age;” the age of grace, or, the end of the church age.
We need to understand that Paul was specifically speaking of the day in which we depart from this earth. Paul, in his second letter to the church in Thessalonica, said this.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 NASB (3) "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,"
As you can see above the translators followed the pattern established by the state church of England and changed the early and acceptable term, departure, with the knowledge of the King of England in 1769 by using the term apostasy.
Apostasy means an abandonment. Up to the point that Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, it could easily be said most people had come find church pointless, and therefore, abandoned the church.
The problem: apostasia is not the base word from which “they” acquired the translation. The origins of apostasia is aphístēmi (G868), and means to depart.
The Word Study Dictionary emphasizes the word Departure. “apostasía; gen. apostasías, fem. noun from aphístēmi (G868), to depart. Departure, apostasy.”
So we can ascertain that the church must depart before the antichrist character can emerge upon the scene. Do not get me wrong, he is currently standing in the shadows and will soon emerge to confer his acceptance of this seven-year peace agreement, which seems to be something that America is trying to shove down Israel's throat as I write this (9/29/2025)
In Revelation 6:16-17, hemera is one of the defining words pertaining to God's wrath.
Revelation 6:16-17 NASB (16) and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; (17) for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
This highlighted information is critical to our understanding. It is also clarified with an eye-opening explanation. “Eastern usage of this term differs from our western usage. Any part of a day is counted as a whole day, hence the expression “three days and three nights” does not mean literally three whole days, but at least one whole day plus any part of two other days.”
Thayer's Greek DefinitionsAs I read through the account of Jesus' death and resurrection, I expected to see three full days. No matter what the explanations from "learned" teachers, nothing made sense, that is, until I understood how the Jews understood the concept of three days. We can apply this same concept to the narrative pertaining to the Prophet Jonah. I reference Jonah because Jesus used Jonah as an example of what His own death and resurrection would look like. For me, this only demonstrates how variable God is with His timetable.
"The day of the Lord.”
The day of the Lord only shows up 26 times when you do a search for the phrase using the KJV. “Of the Lord” is one Greek word kurios and means “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding.”
Isaiah 2:12 AMP “For there shall be a day of the Lord of hosts against all who are proud and haughty and against all who are lifted up--and they shall be brought low--” [Zeph. 2:3; Mal. 4:1.]
Malachi 4:1 AMP “FOR BEHOLD, the day comes that shall burn like an oven, and all the proud and arrogant, yes, and all that do wickedly and are lawless, shall be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”
Zephaniah 2:3 declares, “it may be you shall be hid in the day of the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 5:5 conveys the message that the spirit [of believers] may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
The Day of the Lord.
If I were looking for examples of being hid, I would look to Daniel, who was NOT there when his three Hebrew brethren were thrown into the fiery furnace. I could take this to the next step, for the three were NOT harmed in any way. Another example comes from the saga of Noah. When the time for the flood came, God put Noah and his family into the ark and closed the door.
A portion of the passage we were reading tells us in verse nine that God did not appoint us to wrath.
Is this, or does this, define what is coming?
Isaiah 13:4 explains that it shall come as destruction.
Isaiah 34:8 expresses that this day is vengeance.
And Joel 1:15 also says this time is destruction.
Zephaniah 1:8 calls the day the Lord's sacrifice. [This is God doing the sacrificing.]
Zephaniah 1:14 states that the mighty shall cry bitterly.
I am convinced that the rapture will be the thing that hides us from the wrath; and, what is coming is destruction.
“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;”
Thieves sneak up on you, but this is also equated to a pregnant woman. If you have never fully experienced this process, you may never understand. Pregnancy does not sneak up on you. You are fully aware of what is going to happen, and you have nine months to prepare. Once the labor pains begin, you have minutes or days.
“You are children of light, and the children of day; we are not of the night nor of darkness;”
I suppose this is telling us that we have NO excuses.
“Therefore, let us not sleep as do others but let us watch and be sober.”
Sleep means to be slothful. Alert tells us to give attention to or take heed.
“... be sober, putting on the breastplate or faith ...”
Sober means to be calm. Calm when you know that horrible things are about to happen.
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Appointed is the Greek word aphístēmi and means to set, put, and place.
Wrath means temper or violent emotion.
Salvation is deliverance, preservation, safety, or deliverance from molestation.Molestation has its basis in any unwanted harassment or mistreatment.
One of the questions you put forth is,
Why would Paul/God see a need to tell this body about the rapture and their understanding of how this will work, seeing as they would never experience the rapture?
For Paul to say, I have no need to write to you (about the rapture) is indicative of the fact that Paul had already spoken to this body of believers in a clear and concise manner.
The common understanding is that Paul only preached in Thessalonica for three weeks. As I read about Paul’s impact on this community, I am hard-pressed to understand how Paul could do this in only three weeks. Adding to this confusion of mine is the fact that Paul met at the local Synagogue on the Sabbath, a Saturday. We have little additional definition and, therefore, logically assume that Paul was only at the Synagogue on three Saturdays. Based upon how we do church in the modern world, that gives Paul about three hours of teaching time; that is if they wholeheartedly gave the pulpit to this stranger.
[Ask yourselves, did these people know that Saul, the pharisee, now a follower of Christ, was the skilled theologian among the Jewish council and therefore equipped to teach them from, say, Deuteronomy? Or, as a follower of Christ, was he welcome to bring a message perceived as heresy among the devout Jews? Neither of these would make sense unless they had a policy that allowed people to speak, as long as they were within traditional boundaries.]
What are we doing here?
We are applying Gentile, Sunday School mentality, which leads you to believe that your mind and the ability to speak only works on Sunday when the church is open.
The Biblical Illustrator commentary says this about Paul's interactions in Thessalonica.
“The (book of) Acts contain little or no account of the apostle’s labors among the Gentiles. We only read of three weeks’ preaching in the synagogue, followed by the conversion of many Jews, “devout Greeks,” and “chief women.” Upon this the unbelieving Jews, enlisting the “roughs” of Thessalonica, created a riot which led to the departure of Paul and Silas by night. It is evident, however, from the Epistle, that the apostle’s work here was both more extensive and of longer duration than the history would seem to intimate (insinuate.)”
Why should they “know” perfectly well?
They did not have Bibles from which to assure themselves or train their thinking once Paul was gone; they only had the words and actions of Paul and a handful of people who could remember what Paul said and the fervor with which he delivered the message.
Fortunately, we have other evidence, for Paul, in writing this second letter, states,
(9) For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. (10) You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; (11) just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, (12) so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NASB
Based upon what Paul said about their first stay in Thessalonica, he, along with others, worked to support themselves. The idea of working night and day may have included additional time spent exhorting, encouraging, and imploring each one of you... so that you would walk in a manner worthy of God. Everything they did, they did in a manner that was correct according to Jewish standards and traditions; and that their lives demonstrated that they were blameless and without fault before these people.
In time, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to continue preaching this gospel of Jesus, that he had heard Paul preach, not only in Thessalonica but also in Berea.
What did they now know?
“The day,” in Jewish custom, was to understand three days as, one entire day, and any part of two others. This makes Jesus' own three days very understandable. Therefore, the day can also be seen as “the week of years” that we also see in Daniel, something that also operates on the same principle; it is a variable.
I am convinced that the church's rapture will be the thing that hides us from the wrath.
One last aspect of your question.
Why would God think He needed to share this information with the church (the body of believers) in Thessalonica?
They were struggling with fear.
We don't really understand why until 1 Thessalonians 4.
“But
we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are
asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will
bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say
to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until
the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen
asleep. For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the
dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will
be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one
another with these words.”
(1
Thessalonians 4:13-18 NASB)
God is NOT merely sharing this information with one small group of people (such as the church in Thessalonica;) this is being shared with the family that is to come, and, we are that family.
2 Timothy 3:16 NLT instructs us that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
They thought that Christ had already come; that they had been left behind, and now needed to be reinforced in their understanding and faith. I am convinced that we all, at some point, need to be supported because we have constant attacks on our relationship with Jesus.
How does Satan attack?
He attacks the foundations of our faith, understanding, relationships, righteousness, and moral standing.
Paul’s direction is always to stay alert as we wait for the Lord's return. I can see many benefits to living like this, in a calm, dignified manner, as it shows people what God is like.
What I see others posting is high watch times and days. September 30, that's today; October 3, and October 6,7.
Eyes open, hearts on fire as we wait for Jesus return.
