Like a thief in the night?

[mikekle]

Ive been thinking about verses like this recently, Im not sure what is meant by coming ‘like a thief in the night’, this implies he will come at a time NO ONE expects, yet Jesus made a point to give out certain warning signs when he will be at the door.

Many people, including myself, can look around at global headlines and compare them to warnings Jesus spoke of and its clear, today IS the end times, or very close at least, so people are kind of expecting the second coming, BUT if he comes during these types of things, it wont really be like a thief in the night, instead, it will be expected…??

So, in reality, should we really be looking at times when global headlines and events DO NOT line up with his warnings?

Or, does this verse mean that Jesus will come at a time when THE CATHOLIC CHURCH does not expect him to come?

Then theres this verse…

** If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.
—Matthew 24:21, 24 (NAB)**

I cannot think of ONE such person, all thru out history that has done signs and wonders so great, they will fool people into thinking they really were God…can anyone think of one example in history? I find it very strange Satan has not taken advantage of this, by ‘endowing’ certain people with supernatural gifts, in order to fool people??

I mean, think about it, if JUST ONE person was caught on cell phone camera doing something clearly supernatural, I think MANY people would be instantly fooled.

 

[JRS_88]

Ive been thinking about verses like this recently, Im not sure what is meant by coming ‘like a thief in the night’, this implies he will come at a time NO ONE expects

^^^This is how it was explained to me.

I take it as we need to do our best to have our spiritual “house” in order (to guard your soul), because the end can come at anytime.

 

[TimothyH]

The verse quoted from Matthew 24 is part of the Olivet Discourse.

** If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.
—Matthew 24:21, 24 (NAB)**

The Olivet Discourse is from Mark 13, Matthew 24 and Luke 21 and is about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. It is not about the end of the world and the second coming.

-Tim-

 

[AKDee]

I imagine that in WWI and WWII that some people felt it was the end times because it met so many of the conditions. I know people have felt we were in the end times since basically our Lord was crucified and risen, because some of St. Paul’s earlier epistles appear to indicate that he thought our Lord would come back in his lifetime.

So I think the point is that we should remain watchful but not presume.

As to false Messiahs, they have existed (both before and after Christ) and continue to exist. Bear in mind that people who want to believe in something will see “miracles” where there are none.

 

[koondogkyle]

Yes I remember reading about there will be 7 years of and anti-Christ and we are to not follow or believe the miracles he performs. After the 7 years the True Christ will come. Its like a test…God sure does like testing us!

 

[pianistclare]

Yes I remember reading about there will be 7 years of and anti-Christ and we are to not follow or believe the miracles he performs. After the 7 years the True Christ will come. Its like a test…God sure does like testing us!

Source?

 

[koondogkyle]

“[T]he whole time of your faith will not profit you unless you are made complete in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and sheep shall be turned into wolves . . . and then shall the deceiver of the world appear, pretending to be the Son of God, and [he] shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands” (Didache16:3-4 [A.D. 70]).

Does that help pianistclare?

 

[koondogkyle]

Also it talks about it in Daniel 9:27

Pianistclare

 

[MarkInOregon]

Ive been thinking about verses like this recently, Im not sure what is meant by coming ‘like a thief in the night’, this implies he will come at a time NO ONE expects, yet Jesus made a point to give out certain warning signs when he will be at the door.

Many people, including myself, can look around at global headlines and compare them to warnings Jesus spoke of and its clear, today IS the end times, or very close at least, so people are kind of expecting the second coming, BUT if he comes during these types of things, it wont really be like a thief in the night, instead, it will be expected…??

All throughout history people have looked around at their times and thought exactly the same thing you’re thinking–so maybe it is not as clear as you think that “today IS the end times”?

For each of us individually it is always the end times–as our life may be taken at any moment and we need to be ready. I think we spend to much time looking for signs, worrying about the return of Christ and the end of the world and not enough time worrying about trying to become saints–not staying awake at night because we know the thief is coming.

The peace of Christ,
Mark

 

[koondogkyle]

Daniel 11:31
"His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.

Daniel 11:36
"The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.

Daniel 12:11
"From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

Jeremiah 7:30
"'The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the LORD. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it.

 

[mikekle]

All throughout history people have looked around at their times and thought exactly the same thing you’re thinking–so maybe it is not as clear as you think that “today IS the end times”?

The peace of Christ,
Mark

Yes, that is true, but at no other time in history have SO many of the warnings Jesus told us to watch for, either happened or are happening at one time, I think that is the major difference between those times and the days we are living in now.

I mean, you can make a list of the warnings Jesus spoke of and go down the list comparing it modern times and there is not much that has NOT been fulfilled.

If you look back to the days of WW1 and WW2, they did have some of the warnings taking place, but not many of them at one specific time.

But I guess if the second coming DOES indeed happen in the next 5-10 years, according to some in the CC, it will definitely be a time THEY ARE NOT EXPECTING, since so many do not think we are in the end times…so maybe that is what is meant by this, they will say ‘oh but this and that havent happened yet’, and Jesus will tell them, “well, I told you I would come at a time NOT expected”, like a thief in the night.

 

[mikekle]

As to false Messiahs, they have existed (both before and after Christ) and continue to exist. Bear in mind that people who want to believe in something will see “miracles” where there are none.

I get what you are saying, but Jesus said there would be MANY who could actually do great signs and wonders, meaning they could do supernatural things, making them seem like they are indeed something more than a man…I cant think of ONE single person like this at anytime in recorded history.

I have no doubt, if there was some guy somewhere that was able to call down fire from the sky or move buildings with his thoughts, or similar, that would definitely be breaking news all over the world…I have no doubt MANY people, including christians would think this person was more than just a person, this would be all over the TVs, videos of him doing such things on the internet, etc. Everyone would be talking about this guy, if it had happened anytime in history, this would have been in the history books too.

 

[koondogkyle]

Hey what I really think it all boils down to is we will never know nor expect when it happens we just have to always be ready. We have to be ready to go with Jesus if the end days to come and like the chosen people were told in Egypt during the Pass-Over, they were told to being wearing shoes and have a staff and to be ready to leave in a moments notice. We all just have to be ready for that time when we least expect it. Just keep our minds, hearts, and souls clean! All there is to it!

 

[TimothyH]

Daniel 11:31
"His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.

Daniel 11:36
"The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.

Daniel 12:11
"From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

Jeremiah 7:30
"'The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the LORD. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it.

This is about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. It is not about the end of the world.

-Tim-

 

[MarkInOregon]

Yes, that is true, but at no other time in history have SO many of the warnings Jesus told us to watch for, either happened or are happening at one time, I think that is the major difference between those times and the days we are living in now.

Are you sure this is true? Or could it be with our 27 million channels looking for content and our 24/7 news cycle --that we just hear about more that’s happening around the world than we ever did before? In prior times much of what occurred around the globe would have went unreported and possibly unrecorded.

The peace of Christ,
Mark

 

[pablope]

Ive been thinking about verses like this recently, Im not sure what is meant by coming ‘like a thief in the night’, this implies he will come at a time NO ONE expects, yet Jesus made a point to give out certain warning signs when he will be at the door.

Many people, including myself, can look around at global headlines and compare them to warnings Jesus spoke of and its clear, today IS the end times, or very close at least, so people are kind of expecting the second coming, BUT if he comes during these types of things, it wont really be like a thief in the night, instead, it will be expected…??

So, in reality, should we really be looking at times when global headlines and events DO NOT line up with his warnings?

Or, does this verse mean that Jesus will come at a time when THE CATHOLIC CHURCH does not expect him to come?

ed.

I think you are confused between the time or timing of the second coming and the manner of how the second coming will be here.

As for timing, it means the second coming will like a thief…when you least expect it…meaning we simply do not know the time and where and when…in other words, like a thief.

Now…the manner…how will the secomd coming be…this we do not know also. But a clue may be here:

“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather (episunagō1) his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31 || Mark 13:27)

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

From the passages above, the “manner”, not the timing…will not be a secret one…with the angels in a loud trumpet call…and we will meet the Lord in the air.

Now…what does it mean by…“with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,…”? This indicates it will be a noisy second coming.

 

[mikekle]

I think you are confused between the time or timing of the second coming and the manner of how the second coming will be here.

As for timing, it means the second coming will like a thief…when you least expect it…meaning we simply do not know the time and where and when…in other words, like a thief.

Now…the manner…how will the secomd coming be…this we do not know also. But a clue may be here:

“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather (episunagō1) his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31 || Mark 13:27)

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

From the passages above, the “manner”, not the timing…will not be a secret one…with the angels in a loud trumpet call…and we will meet the Lord in the air.

Now…what does it mean by…“with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,…”? This indicates it will be a noisy second coming.

Yes, all this makes alot of sense…although meeting the lord up in the air will be interesting to see…will people just float upwards, people being pulled up into the sky by an invisible ‘tractor beam’?

Ive thought about the second coming alot recently, from what the bible says, I think it definitely will be LOUD and probably ONE CRAZY DAY!! I almost fear hearing those trumpets, I can not imagine how I or others will react, I presume alot of people will be freaking out, probably alot of looting right away, people taking advantage of the chaos, then to see the dead rising or however the dead will ‘receive’ their glorified bodies…GEEZ, this really will be a crazy thing to witness!!

Plus, one can only imagine how the media will react, I tend to think they will instruct everyone to remain in their homes, martial law enacted right away, Id also say they will NOT acknowledge it is an act of God, they will probably try telling people its some kind of UFO event and/or invasion, that NO ONE saw coming. LOL

 

[TimothyH]

Yes, all this makes alot of sense…although meeting the lord up in the air will be interesting to see…will people just float upwards, people being pulled up into the sky by an invisible ‘tractor beam’?

People will not physically fly into the air.

***Then we who are alive, who are left, shall 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. *(1 Thessalonians 4:17)

'Going out to meet" would have been a familiar phrase to ancient people who would leave the safety of a walled city to greet a dignitary, military ruler or king and escort them back as an honored guest. A host would always “go out to meet” his guests and invite them in.

*Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare, and went into the tent. (Exodus 18:7)

And Ja’el came out to meet Sis’era, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. (Judges 4:18)

Then David came to the two hundred men, who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor; and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him; and when David drew near to the people he saluted them. (1 Samuel 30:21)*

There are literally dozens of passages like this in the Bible.

Paul was not talking about literally flying into the sky. It means that Jesus followers will “go out to meet” Jesus, that he would be welcome as an honored guest.

Jesus left by the clouds and said he would return by the clouds. The cloud often represented the physical manifestation of God on earth or the overwhelming power of God on earth.

It has nothing to do with flying up in the sky. All of that is pop culture rapture theology, completely made up with no basis in history, rejected by serious scholars and theologians.

-Tim-

 

[teeboy]

Ive been thinking about verses like this recently, Im not sure what is meant by coming ‘like a thief in the night’, this implies he will come at a time NO ONE expects, yet Jesus made a point to give out certain warning signs when he will be at the door.

Many people, including myself, can look around at global headlines and compare them to warnings Jesus spoke of and its clear, today IS the end times, or very close at least, so people are kind of expecting the second coming, BUT if he comes during these types of things, it wont really be like a thief in the night, instead, it will be expected…??

So, in reality, should we really be looking at times when global headlines and events DO NOT line up with his warnings?

Or, does this verse mean that Jesus will come at a time when THE CATHOLIC CHURCH does not expect him to come?

Then theres this verse…

** If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.
—Matthew 24:21, 24 (NAB)**

I cannot think of ONE such person, all thru out history that has done signs and wonders so great, they will fool people into thinking they really were God…can anyone think of one example in history? I find it very strange Satan has not taken advantage of this, by ‘endowing’ certain people with supernatural gifts, in order to fool people??

I mean, think about it, if JUST ONE person was caught on cell phone camera doing something clearly supernatural, I think MANY people would be instantly fooled.

The Catholic Church has no doctrine on when the second coming will come. Only the Father knows that time; Jesus does not know the time. If Jesus is the head of the Church, and he does not know the time, how can the Church develop a doctrine on this?

Don’t get carried away by media reports. Most of the media reports do nothing but divert your attention from the things you should be doing–like good works.

 

[Darryl_B]

Ive been thinking about verses like this recently, Im not sure what is meant by coming ‘like a thief in the night’, this implies he will come at a time NO ONE expects, yet Jesus made a point to give out certain warning signs when he will be at the door.

Many people, including myself, can look around at global headlines and compare them to warnings Jesus spoke of and its clear, today IS the end times, or very close at least, so people are kind of expecting the second coming, BUT if he comes during these types of things, it wont really be like a thief in the night, instead, it will be expected…??

So, in reality, should we really be looking at times when global headlines and events DO NOT line up with his warnings?

Or, does this verse mean that Jesus will come at a time when THE CATHOLIC CHURCH does not expect him to come?

Then theres this verse…

** If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.
—Matthew 24:21, 24 (NAB)**

I cannot think of ONE such person, all thru out history that has done signs and wonders so great, they will fool people into thinking they really were God…can anyone think of one example in history? I find it very strange Satan has not taken advantage of this, by ‘endowing’ certain people with supernatural gifts, in order to fool people??

I mean, think about it, if JUST ONE person was caught on cell phone camera doing something clearly supernatural, I think MANY people would be instantly fooled.

Jesus Christ will come as a thief in the night, but I Thessalonians 5:4 would suggest it is expected by those who are in expectation of Him. My friend, let satan remain bound, his time is not yet, but he will be loosed for a while.