PRÉCIS ON THE DAY OF THE LORD: A TIME OF THIEVES AND SCOUNDRELS AND DECEIVERS AND BRIGANDS

SCRIPTURE. “Now as to the times and dates, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the [return of the] Lord is coming just as a thief [comes unexpectedly and suddenly] in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety [all is well and secure!]’ then [in a moment unforeseen] destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains on a woman with child, and they will absolutely not escape [for there will be no way to escape the judgment of the Lord].

But you, believers, [all you who believe in Christ as Savior and acknowledge Him as God’s Son] are not in spiritual darkness [nor held by its power], that the day [of judgment] would overtake you [by surprise] like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We do not belong to the night nor to darkness. So then let us not sleep [in spiritual indifference] as the rest [of the world does], but let us keep wide awake [alert and cautious] and let us be sober [self-controlled, calm, and wise].” ― 1 THESSALONIANS 5:1-6, AMP

KEY TERM: “THIEF.” ‘Kleptés’ [κλέπτης]: “A stealer, robber; one who steals secretly, as with a burglar, embezzler or pilferer; seizes with violence; fig. of false teachers or deceivers who steal men away from the truth; an extortioner, brigand [one who ambushes others and robs them in mountains and forests]; false leaders who do not care to instruct men, but abuse their confidence for their own gain; one who seduces by false doctrine (John 10:1); one who makes it his business to cheat and defraud; imp. an individual who comes unexpectedly.”

QUOTATION. “Son of Man, the people of Israel are saying, ‘He’s talking about the distant future. His visions won’t come true for a long, long time.’ Therefore, tell them, This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘No more delay! I will now do everything I have threatened. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’ (Ezekiel 12:27-28 NLT).” ― DAVID JONES, They Thought They Had More Time: I Saw the Day of the Lord, 2013; edited

AUTHOR NOTE. “David Jones received a Vision that changed his life forever. It was as if someone gripped him by the arm and shook him awake. In an instant, he was hovering above the earth. Beautiful clear skies. Mountains and hills adorning the landscape below. People were continuing with business as usual, until …Thick clouds consumed the sky. Darkness fell. Silence covered the earth. Then, a deafening sound broke through the heavens and pierced every ear that heard it. Terror gripped the people, as they realized the Day of the Lord was not a fable. It had come and they had run out of time.” ― Publisher Introduction

BRIGAND. “A robber; a free booter; a lawless fellow who lives by plunder, or who belongs to a band of robbers. ‘An outlaw’ (i.e., a person excluded from the benefit of the law, or deprived of its protection; a fugitive).”

COMMENTARY. “‘The Coming of Christ will be a great surprise to men.’ Our Lord Himself said so. As the hour of death is the same to each person that the Judgment will be to Mankind in general, so the same remarks answer for both. Christ’s Coming will be terrible to the ungodly. Their destruction will overtake them while they dream of happiness, and please themselves with vain amusements. There will be no means to escape the terror or the punishment of that Day. This Day will be a happy day to the righteous. They are not in darkness; they are the children of the Light. It is the happy condition of all true Christians. But how many are speaking ‘peace and safety’ to themselves, over whose heads utter destruction is hovering! Let us endeavour to awaken ourselves and each other, and guard against our spiritual enemies.” ― MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

DK. This is a massive subject, obviously, and it is perhaps foolishness to present it as mere Précis here, but time and space constraints persuaded me to at least, ‘Get it out there now!’ With the understanding that I will issue a full scale Commentary a bit later.

To Wit: The Return of Jesus Christ to the Earth after some 2,000 years will not, as has often been taught, be a Secret Whisper that takes place nearly unnoticed as the True Saints of God are ushered out of their earthly state to quietly meet the Lord in the air.

Um, not exactly, beloved. Here is what I believe that Mega Event shall be very much like, as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah announces to the entire planet that ‘He’s back!’ And that He is not particularly happy with humanity.

Here is how John the Revelator describes the Onset of THE DAY OF THE LORD in no uncertain terms.

“I looked when He [that is Jesus] opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” – REVELATION 6:12-17, NKJV

DK. It is difficult, in fact impossible for me to properly capture the massive nature of THIS MOMENT in human history. Several Bible expositors have tried. “Cosmic Chaos,” “Shaking of the Earth,” “Signs in the Sky,” “Cosmic Mayhem,” and for most: “The Terrifying Day of the Lord!” (adapted from C. Kelly, The Sixth Seal II, 2023, p. 185).

To this point: He is Returning for TWO PURPOSES: One, to Rescue all ‘True Saints’ – the Remnant Church. Two, to Judge the ‘Unrighteous’ – All thieves and scoundrels and deceivers and brigands, and all Apostates who pretended to know Him, but He did not know them, beloved. Selah.

Make Ready, therefore. He is coming with thunder and lightning and great power, and no one shall escape that Day. Not one. No beloved, not even one.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/ZgweNn0g8E8